Cross-cultural management and expatriate management literature is driven by
comparative survey research that seek to identify, define, and create universal and
static typologies of personal attributes, personality measures, cultural dimensions,
and value systems of a country. Intercultural research and management how-to
books written by expatriate managers, however, suggest that interaction between
expatriate managers and local executives often lead to the creation of a social world
that is complex and multidimensional, situated within the social context of a particular
country. Current survey research, therefore, ignores the embedded, emergent, and
collective social world of expatriate-locals within organizations. Although there are
empirical case studies and social identity studies of joint-ventures, we can add to
current cross-cultural management literature by examining the impact of
organizational social capital on expatriate management success. This approach
merges the theoretical framework of social capital through the study of micro-level
organizational social interaction between Western expatriate managers and local
executives- individually, and at the group level interaction. Crucially, this viewpoint
includes an examination of social forces and social structures that contribute to the
development of organizational social capital. The research approach, herein, is
based on a multidisciplinary critical ethnographic methodology that examines
Western expatriate management success-failure mainly through a study of the local
executive in the form of social structures, social interaction/events, intra-
organizational community differences, beliefs and values, emotions in the workplace,
and contextual factors. Research is conducted in Indonesia because it is under-
represented in management research and it is constantly ranked by expatriate
managers as the most difficult assignment in Asia. It is anticipated that this study will
enrich our understanding of the impact of organizational social capital on cross-
cultural and intercultural management theory.